Overview

Learn the
ViPR support requirements, and prerequisite information to prepare VMAX and VNX for Block storage systems for
ViPR integration, and the steps to add the storage to
ViPR using the REST API.

How the storage is discovered, and registered after it is added to
ViPR is also described. Also included are the important REST API calls used to manage SMI-S Providers and perform optional configuration steps on the storage after it has been added, and discovered in
ViPR.

This article is part of a series

Storage systems can be added
to
ViPR at anytime. If, however, you are setting up the
ViPR Controller virtual data center for the first time, before you continue to provision storage, complete the following steps.

Add physical storage systems in VNX Block and VMAX

For VNX Block and VMAX, adding an SMI-S provider provides access to the storage systems. Once the SMI-S providers are added to
ViPR, then the underlying storage systems, storage pools, and storage ports are discovered automatically without any further user input.

The following steps describe how to add VNX Block and VMAX storage to
ViPR using the REST API. To use the
ViPR UI to add VNX Block and VMAX storage to
ViPR,
see the
Add Storage Systems Using the ViPR UI article.

Procedure

Add the SMI-S Provider by sending a
POST to
/vdc/storage-providers.

The request returns a task whose URI can be queried to determine the status of the task such as completion state, any failures, and the start time of the task request.

In this example, the SMI-S Provider with the IP address of 192.168.0.0 is being registered.

Network configuration for block storage systems

After the storage system is added to
ViPR, it is recommended to add the corresponding SAN switch using
POST /vdc/network-systems.

When a SAN switch is added to
ViPR, the Fibre Channel networks (Brocade Fabrics or Cisco VSANs), are automatically discovered and registered in
ViPR. Additionally, through discovery of the SAN switch topology,
ViPR discovers, and registers the host initiators for hosts on the network, and identifies which storage systems are associated with the SAN switch.

By default, all discovered storage pools are available to use for provisioning in
ViPR. Deregister storage pools to make them unavailable to
ViPR for provisioning.

PUT /vdc/storage-systems/{id}

By default, storage systems are configured with unlimited amount of resources that can be used by ViPR. This API call allows you to set resource limits, which defines the amount of storage system that is available for use by
ViPR. In addition, you can also update the storage system credentials.

POST /vdc/storage-ports/{id}/deregister

By default, all storage ports are available to use for provisioning in
ViPR when the storage system is discovered by
ViPR. Deregister storage ports to make them unavailable to
ViPR for provisioning.